Apparatus for making bolts, &amp;c.



Patented Nov. l3, I900.

w. w. MULFURD. APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOLTS, 816.

(Application filed Jan. 30, IQQO.)

5 Sheets-8heet I.

(No Model.)

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m: NORRIS perms co, PHOTQ-LVTHU (ASH No. 66|,9l7. Patented Nov. l3,I900.

w. w. MULFORD.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOLTS, 8w.

(Application filed Jan. 30, 1900. 1 (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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m: Noam; PETERS co, vnuroumoq WASHINGTON n. c.

No. 661,917. Patented Nov. l3, I900.

w. w. MULFORD.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOLTS &c. (Application filed Jan. so, 19oo.| (NoModel.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

L 9 m- E a 1 Q a Q \7 we Nomus vnzns co. wmo-uwo. wasnwc'ron n c No.661,9!7. Patented Nov. I3, I900. W. W. MULFORD.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOLTS. 81.6.

(Application filed Jan. 30, 1900.

N0. 661,9!7. I Patented Nov. l3, I900.

- W. W. MULFORD.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOLTS, &c.

(Application filed Jan. 30, 1900.)

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFli'CF...

WILLIAM .V. MULFORD, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOLTS, 800.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 661,917, datedNovember 13, 1900.

Application filed January 80, 1900. nerial N0. 3,3 i9. (No model.)

To all whmn, 7125 iii/(t7 con/corn:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. MULFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at O0- lumbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forMaking Bolts, of which the following is a specification.

.This invention relates to an improved process and apparatus forautomatically preparing bolt-blanks for delivery to a heading-inachine;and it includes means for automatically pointing and cutting off blanksfrom a rod or wire, means for delivering said blanks to acontinuously-traveling conveyer, a receptacle containing a liquid intowhich the ends of said bolts are dipped as they pass along upon theconveyer, an electric circuit in which said blanks and liquid areincluded and through which a current is passed to heat the ends of saidblanks, and means for releasing the bolts and delivering them to aheadingmachine after they have passed out of the liquid.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of an apparatusfor carrying out my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, thepointing and cutting-off machine being shown partly in section. Fig. 3is a view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. at is aside view of the gearand lever for operating the cutter which points the bolts. Fig. 5 is anend view of the conveyor and tank. Fig. 6 is a section through the tank,conveyer, and contact-bar; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing thedriving-pulleys of the conveyer and the device for causing thespring-jaws upon the conveyor to open for the purpose of receiving thebolt-blanks.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, of the drawings, A indicates amachine for cutting off rods of suitable lengths to form the bolts froma wire 1, which is automatically fed for ward to a knife at the propertime by means of suitable feeding mechanism operated from adriving-shaft 2. The wire 1 is fed through a cylinder 3 and a centralperforation in a disk 4, which is movable within the cylinder and whichis normally held flush with the face-plate 5 by means of a spring 6. Ar-

ranged within horizontal guide-plates 7 upon the face-plate is across-head 8, carrying a knife 9 for cutting off the wire, and a rotarycutter 10, arranged within a cylinder 11 and adapted to trim or pointthe end of the wire to remove the rough edges and prepare it for thethreading operation when the bolt is otherwise completed. The cross-headis movable longitudinally within the guideways by means of a push-rod12, the rear end 13 of Which is forked and straddles the shaft 2, asshown in Fig. 3. Cains 1e and 15 (shown in dotted lines in said figure)are arranged upon the forks of the push-rod, and a stud orpin 16,secured to a wheel 17 upon the shaft 2, is adapted to engage said camsalternately, thereby reciprocating the pushrod and moving the cross-headback and forth within the guideways. The wheel moves in the directionindicated by the arrow, and when the stud e11- gages the cam let theknife is forced forward and the rod cut off. The continued movement ofthe stud brings it into engagement with the cam 15, and the knife isdrawn backward until the cutter 10 comes opposite the disk 4, when thestud leaves said cam and the cross-head stops. The cutter remainsopposite said disk until the pin 16 again reaches the cam 14, and duringthis interval between the stopping and starting of the push-rod thecutter 10 is caused to move inward against the spring-pressed disk 4 andto rotate. To this end the shaft 18, connected with the cutter 10, isextended beyond the casing 11 and is provided with a clutch member 19,adapted to be engaged by a clutch member 20, the latter be ingautomatically moved inward at the proper time to engage the member 19and force the cutter against the rod. The cutter is normally pressedoutward by means of a spring 21 within the casing 11. The clutch member20 is secured to a shaft 28, mounted within a suitable bearing 22, andsaid shaft is movable longitudinally within the bearing by means of aforked lever 23, pivoted upon a standard 24. As shown in Fig. l, theclutch member 20 is normally held out of the path of the member 19 bymeans of a spring 25. When, however, the rotary cutter is brought intoposition to point the wire, the rear end of the lever is engaged by acam 26 upon the side of a wheel 27, secured upon the shaft 2, as shownin Fig. 4. This cam causes the lever to swing horizontally upon itspivotal point, thereby throwing the clutch members into engagement, asshown in Fig. 2, and as soon as said clutch members are engaged theshaft 28, carrying the member 20, is caused to rotate by means of theengagement of a rack 29 upon the Wheel 27, the teeth of which engage apinion 30, mounted upon a shaft 31, the latter having abroad pulley 32,connected by a belt 33 with a small flanged wheel 34; upon the shaft 28.The cam 26 and the rack 29 are so positioned upon the wheel 27 that thecam will first engage the lever, thereby throwing the clutch membersinto engagement, and the teeth of the rack will immediately thereafterengage the pinion and cause the rotation of the cutter. The cam isformed so as to force the cutter gradually inward against the point ofthe rod, and the cam and rack are of about the same length,so that whenthe cam has passed beyond the lever 23 the teeth upon the rack will havepassed out of engagement with the pinion 30, thereby stop ping therotation of the cutter. As the pulley 34c moves with the shaft 28 thebelt 33 shifts upon the broad pulley 32.

Any usual gripping device may be arranged upon the pointing-machine totake up the thrust of the cutter against the end of the wire.

The parts of the machine are so arranged that the operations ofpointing, cutting off, and feeding the wire forward take placeantomatically in succession, the movement of the cutter to point thewire being followed by a movement of the feeding apparatus while thecross-head is moving forward after the cutter has moved out of the wayand before the knife reaches the wire, the cuttingoff operation thentaking place.

Any suitable means may be employed for feeding the wire forward. Asshown, a ratchet-wheel 35, connected by suitable gearing to feedwheels36, is operated intermittently by a rack-bar 37, having cams 3S and 39,which are engaged at the proper time by a pin upon a wheel 41, thelatter being mounted upon the shaft 2. The rear end of the bar 37 isforked like the rear end of the push-rod l2, and the cams are formed andarranged to effect the movement of the rack-bar at the desired times.

Any suitable machine may be employed for pointing and cutting off therods, and I have not, therefore, thought it necessary to illustrate morein detail the feeding mechanism or the construction of this part of theapparatus.

The bolt-blanks which are cut off drop into a narrow trough or chute 4:2and slide down into a broad trough 43, arranged at right angles to thechute 42. Upon reaching the trough 43 the blanks roll downward onto apair of arms at, having upturned ends which arrest the motion of theblanks. The blanks are automatically lifted from the arms 44 by means ofa pair of spring-jaws 45 (see Fig. 5) upon a gooseneekdever 46, saidlever being moved by a cam 47 to carry the boltblanks,

one at a time, from the arms 1- 1- outward and downward into the path ofa series of spring jaws or holders as upon an endless conveyer 4L9, saidjaws 43 being arranged to automatically close tightly upon the ends ofthe blanks and to pull them from thejaws upon the gooseneck. The coursefollowed by thejaws 4 5 is indicated in dotted lines in said figure. Theinner faces of said jaws flare outwardly at the ends, so that when theyare pressed down upon the bolt lying upon the arms 4-1- said jaws willspread and grip the bolt at its center.

The belt or conveyer is driven by a pair of pulleys 50 and 51, havingteeth which extend into perforations in the belt. (See Fig.7.) Thesepulleys are mounted upon a shaft 52, the latter being driven by a shaftand gearwheels 54 and 55, said shaft 53 in turn being geared bybevel-gears 56 and 57 to a shaftarranged parallel with the belt andprovided with a suitable driving-wheel 5E). The camwheel 47, whichoperates the gooseneck, is mounted upon the shaft 58.

The spring jaws or holders 18 are arranged. equidistantly throughout thelength of the conveyer. As shown in Fig. 7, the jaws are pivoted withinopenings in cross-pieces (30 and they are normally held closed by meansof springs 61. The inner faces of the jaws are grooved longitudinally,as shown at 62, to afford a better gripping-surface for the boltblank.Each revolution of the shaft 58 causes the gooseneck-lever to bring thepointed end of a bolt-blank into position to be gripped by one of theholders 48, and the gearing between said shaft and the driving-pulleysof the belt is so proportioned that the holders in sueeession will comeopposite the bolts as they are brought into position. In order that thejaws may be opened to receive the blank from the gooseneck, larrangebetween the pulleys 50 and 51 a pair of arms 63 and Get, which aresecured at their rear ends to a cross-piece (55, mounted upon the frame(36, which supports the conveyer. These arms curve forwardly anddownwardly to a point nearly opposite the point of delivery of thebolt-blanks to the jaws and form a narrow channel through which theinner ends 67 and 68 of each pair of jaws must pass. The adjacent facesof the arms 63 and Get flare outwardly at their rear ends, as shown at69, so that as the ends 67 and 68 of the jaws enter the channel saidinclined faces will force the inner ends of the jaws together andseparate the outer ends. As soon as the jaws pass the curved arms thespring 61 forces their rear ends apart and closes their outer ends uponthe bolt-blank and the continued movement of the conveyor causes thejaws to pull the blank from the jaws upon the gooseneck-lever.

The conveyer 19 passes over the drivingpulleys 51 and 52 and a series ofpairs of pulleys 70, 71, 72, and 73, which are supported by theframework 66. Beneath the belt is arrangeda suitable elongated tank orreceptacle 74, which is supported upon adjustable stand ards 85, so thatit may be raised or lowered. This tank is filled with a liquid which ismore or less of a conductor, and it is so arranged that as the blankstraveling with the conveyer reach the lower horizontal partof theconveyer between the pulleys and 71 the ends of said blanks will dipinto the liquid and will remain therein until they reach the oppositeend of the tank, when they will be raised out of the liquid, owing tothe change in the course of the conveyer, which passes over the pulleys72. During the passage of the bolt-blanks through the liquid the endswhich dip into the liquid are electrically heated by the passage of anelectric current from the bolts to the liquid, or vice ersa, and afterpassing out of the liquid they are released from the jaws by means ofcurved arms 83, arranged at the rear of the frame, said arms beingsimilar to the arms 63 and 6 c upon the front of the frame. The blanksthen drop into a chute 84:, by means of which they are conveyed to aheading-machine. The liquid within the tank is electrically connected bya wire to one pole of a dynamo 76 or other suitable source ofelectricity of sufficient volu me to heat all of the blanks within thetank. Preferably said wire is connected to rods 75, adjustably arrangedwithin the liquid on either side of the series of bolts, although it maybe connected to the metal tank. A wire 77, leading from the oppositepole of the dynamo, is connected to a flat contact bar or rail 78,suspended from the frame. Spring contact-pieces are affixed to the ends67 and 68 of the jaws, and after each successive pair of spring-jawscarrying a bolt-blank passes the pulleys 70 said contact-pieces trailalong on either side of the rail 78, as shown in Fig. 6, and the circuitis thereby completed from the dynamo through wire 75 and the liquid inthe tank to the bolts, thence by way of the jaws, contact-bar 78, andwire 77 back to the opposite pole of the dynamo. The passage of thecurrent between the liquid and the bolts causes the immersed ends onlyof the latter to become heated. As the conveyer travels at a constantrate of speed, each blank will dip into the liquid for a fixed length oftime, so that the blanks are all heated to about the same degree beforepassing out of the liquid. The degree of heat to which the blanks aresubjected may be varied by varying the quantity of the electric currentor by varying the speed of the apparatus, so that the bolts will dipinto the liquid for a longer or shorter period of time. Regulation mayalso be effected to some degree by raising or lowering the tank, thusregulating the depth of the immersion of the blanks. The electrodes 75are preferably made flat and inclined in opposite directions, as shownin Fig. 6. With this system of heating blanks it will be noted that onlythe ends of the blanks upon which the heads are to be formed are heatedto a red heat, owing to the fact that the heating is mainly due to thepassage of small arcs between the liquid and the blanks through thegaseous bubbles which are formed by electrolytic action. It will be seenthat by this method the blanks may be heated and delivered to anordinary heading-machine as fast as the latter can be operated to formthe heads, and that in the manufacture of bolts by this process thelarge amount of labor usually required in separately heating the boltsand manually delivering them to a heading1nachine is avoided.

Any suitable heading-machine may be employed to head the bolts, and anysuitable means may be utilized for the purpose of pointing, cutting oil,and delivering the blanks to the holders upon the conveyer, or saidblanks may be delivered manually to the holders. The source ofelectricity may be a dynamo or battery, and the connections between saidsource and the liquid and boltblanks may be arranged in various ways.The liquid may be any suitable saline or acid so lution which willconduct the electric current.

Various changes may be made in the constructicn of the apparatus withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Without therefore limiting myself to the precise construction hereinshown and described, what I claim, and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States, is-

1. An apparatus for heating a series of metal rods or blanks preparatoryto heading the same, comprising a liquid, means for automaticallyextending said rods into and removing them from the liquid, and asuitable source of electricity, the opposite poles of which areconnected to said liquid and to the rods while in the liquid,respectively.

2. An apparatus for heating a series of metal rods or blanks preparatoryto heading the same, comprising a receptacle containing a liquid, aconveyer to which the rods are connected, said conveyer being arrangedto extend the rods into the liquid, and a suitable source ofelectricity, the opposite poles of which are connected to said liquidand to the rods while in the liquid, respectively.

An apparatus for heating metal rods or blanks preparatory to heading thesame, comprising a receptacle containinga liquid, a conveyer arrangedabove said liquid, said rods being dependently attached to the conveyerand extending into the liquid, and a suitable source of electricity, theopposite poles of which are connected to said liquid and to said rods,respectively.

4. An apparatus for heating metal rods or blanks preparatory to headingthe same, comprising a receptacle containing a liquid, a conveyerarranged above said liquid, a contactbar arranged parallel with saidconveyer, a series of jaws carried by said conveyer and in slidingengagement with said bar, said rods being carried by said jaws andextending into the liquid, and a suitable source of electricity,

a conveyer, a series of jaws attached to said conveyer, each jaw beingadapted to carry a rod and to extend said rod into the liquid, asuitable source of electricity, the opposite poles of which areconnected to said liquid and to said rods respectively, and means forautomatically opening the jaws to release the rods when said rods havepassed out of the liquid.

7. An apparatus for heating metal rods comprising a receptacle containina liquid, a conveyer, a series of jaws carried by said conveyer, eachjaw being arranged to carry a rod or blank and to extend said rod intothe liquid, means for automatically opening said jaws to receive therods, a suitable source of electricity, the opposite poles of which areconnected to said liquid and to said rods respectively, and means forautomaticallyopening the jaws to release the rods when said rods havepassed out of the liquid.

8. An apparatus for heating metal rods comprising a traveling conveyerhaving a series of jaws or holders, each jaw beingadapted to carry a rodor blank, means for automatically feeding said rods to said holders, areceptacle containing a liquid into which the rods extend while passingalong with the conveyer, a suitable source of electricity, the oppositepoles of which are connected to said liquid and to said rods whileextended into the liquid, and means for automatically releasing saidrods from the jaws or holders after they have passed out of the liquid.

9. The combination with a machine for cutting oi'f bolt-blanks from awire or rod, and a conveyer having jaws or holders thereon, of means forautomatically delivering said blanks to the holders, a receptaclecontaining a liquid into which said rods dip as they pass along on theconveyer, an electric circuit in which said liquid and the immersed rodsare included, and means for releasing said rods from the holders afterthey pass out of the liquid.

10. The combination with a machine for pointing and cutting offbolt-blanks from a wire or red and a conveyer having jaws or holdersthereon, of means for delivering said blanks to the holders b theirpointed ends, a receptacle containing a liquid into which the oppositeends of said rods dip as they pass along on the conveyer, an electriccircuit in which said liquid and the immersed rods are included,and'means for releasing said rods from the holders after they pass outof the liquid.

11. An apparatus for heating bolt-blanks comprising aconveyer,acontact-bar arranged parallel with said conveyer, a series ofmetal jaws upon said conveyor and in sliding engagement with saidcontact-bar, said jaws being adapted to carry the bolt-blanks, areceptacle containing a liquid into which said blanks dip as they passalong with the conveyer, and an electric circuit extending through saidcontact-bar, jaws, bolt-blanks and liquid.

12. An apparatus for heating a series of metal rods or blankspreparatory to heading the same comprising a receptacle containing aliquid, means for extending said rods into and removing them from theliquid, a pair of parallel conductor-bars arranged within the liquid andinclined in opposite directions,and a suitable source of electricity,the opposite poles of which are connected to said bars and to the rodswhile in the liquid.

In testimony whereof I a'llix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM vV. MULFORD.

lVitnesses:

H. L. GILBERT, W. O. HENDERSON.

